Darker than Black: Ryuusei No Gemini Episode 2

October 16, 2009

The opening episode of Darker than BLACK: Ryuusei no Gemini did a pretty good job of quickly but concisely setting up the show’s story, and of course come the end of that opening instalment we’d even been successfully introduced to the new-look, long-haired Hei.
Of course, Hei’s appearance could hardly be heralded as good news for Suou, who despite escaping from the military forces out looking for her and her brother finds herself the centre of attention for numerous contractors. This brings us to some absolutely fantastic action sequences from the off in this second episode, which arguably knock pretty much anything the original series depicted into a cocked hat.

In the ensuing chaos Suou manages to escape from these numerous contractors, only to find that all of her friends have had all memory of her wiped… all that is except for Nika, who also finds himself on the run due to his association with girlfriend turned contractor Tanya. After quickly recovering from the trauma of all she’s just been through, Suou goes on the offensive the only way she knows how, and before she knows it she’s confronted by Hei, and other contractors, once again.

As I’ve just mentioned, this new series of Darker Than BLACK really seems to have its action scenes plotted to perfection – It’s literally breath-taking stuff, and that alone makes this episode compelling stuff to watch once the contractors get their groove on, complete with some mildly amusing remunerations on show too. That aside, the plot continues to progress in a predictable way, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing (indeed it is perhaps saved somewhat by Suou’s feisty nature) as there’s still a lot left to be explained, particularly for fans of the first series – Why is Hei working for his current employer, what’s happened to Yin, and so on. Those kinds of question alone, never mind the deeper questions surrounding the world depicted by this show, are enough to keep me excited for what’s to come, and I’m looking forward to plenty more of the same.